“Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended

And they might face felony charges, too.

There's an old joke that plays on the public's scientific illiteracy. It goes like this: there's a dangerous substance that can kill you if you ingest too much of it, and it will interfere with your breathing if you end up immersed in it. Its name? Dihydrogen monoxide. Sounds scary until you spell out the formula, which is H2O. Or plain water. The joke has been around for long enough that it's now mostly used sarcastically, as a way of deflating exaggerated claims about other hazardous chemicals.

That doesn't mean, however, that everybody's in on the joke. That was ably demonstrated by two morning DJs who used it in their April Fools' segment earlier this week. According to a local news report, the two have made foolery an annual event but have always managed to keep it family friendly. This year, the duo turned to dihydrogen monoxide, warning their listeners that the local water supply is full of the stuff. Naturally, worried phone calls to the local water authority ensued.

The article quotes a member of the local county utility, who became aware of the broadcast only when nervous customers started getting in touch: "We were fielding calls and letting people know that water was safe." Meanwhile, neither the local authorities nor the radio station management were amused. "My understanding is it is a felony to call in a false water quality issue," the article quotes county spokesperson Diane Holm as saying. The radio station has disavowed the broadcast and suspended the DJs.

The broadcast may have been a joke gone bad, but the underlying problems are anything but a joke. If the public can't even understand a basic chemical formula, then it's probably hopeless to think they'll understand the more complex issues that are typically involved in public health, like complex dose effects and ambiguous epidemiology.

How can it be a "false water quality issue" when their statement was 100% factual?

Exactly. I would hope that this wouldn't get very far in court if the authorities decide to press charges.

It's a very good example of how terribly stupid we are as a nation, and I tend to place some of the blame on the dumbing down of textbooks and pop culture that has been imposed on us over the last few decades.

If the public can't even understand a basic chemical formula, then it's probably hopeless to think they'll understand the more complex issues that are typically involved in public health, like complex dose effects and ambiguous epidemiology.

I think the problem is more along the lines of the public lacking the ability to apply critical thinking to anything anymore. Their first reaction is to flip-out and post it on Facebook/Twitter.

This just seems to fall in line with the downward trend in education in this country and the fact that we repeatedly lower the bar rather than fix the problem(s). The people who were too stupid to: (a) note that it was April Fool's Day, (b) maybe try a quick Google search for "dihydrogen monoxide", and (c) have already learned this stuff in high school level chemistry, are the ones catered to while these two DJs (and the rest of us) are essentially punished for being somewhat intelligent.

To be fair to the listeners who didn't get the joke, not everyone is going to know what Dihydrogen monoxide is since that term is never used and it sounds a lot like carbon monoxide.

If somone told me that the consumption of too much C6H12O6 (or hexa-carbon, dodecahydrogen, hexa-oxide) can lead a series of health problems I wouldn't immediately know that they were talking about Glocuse (or Galactose).

If somone was sufficiently concerned about their water quality (and they forgot that it's April 1st) they might not look anything up and just call the water company to see if there is really a problem.

If the public can't even understand a basic chemical formula, , then it's probably hopeless to think they'll understand [a damn thing]

Or even possess the goddamned basic fucking curiosity to google it, or go to a library, or ask their children, or their children's science teacher, in 2013

Curiosity? A lot of people, probably more than half, likely way more than half, aren't curious at all. Same house. Same job. Same freeway. Same vacation spot. Same restaurant every time they eat out. Same car brand. Same. Same same. Heaven forbid they try something new. They are too afraid to.

To be fair to the listeners who didn't get the joke, not everyone is going to know what Dihydrogen monoxide is since that term is never used and it sounds a lot like carbon monoxide.

If somone told me that the consumption of too much C6H12O6 (or hexa-carbon, dodecahydrogen, hexa-oxide) can lead a series of health problems I wouldn't immediately know that they were talking about Glocuse (or Galactose).

If somone was sufficiently concerned about their water quality (and they forgot that it's April 1st) they might not look anything up and just call the water company to see if there is really a problem.

That doesn't necessarily mean that they are dumb.

No, not dumb, but certainly lacking in basic understanding of chemistry that every adult should have acquired in high school. Hell, you don't even need that. You just need to know a few things: 1: di means 2. 2: mono means one. 3: What Hydrogen and Oxygen are and 4: That H2O is water.

So, it's certainly a problem. We are falling behind embarrassingly in science education due to things like the rise of evangelical Christianity.

Also, everyone should be skeptical of people in the media rather than take their words for it.

If the public can't even understand a basic chemical formula, , then it's probably hopeless to think they'll understand [a damn thing]

Or even possess the goddamned basic fucking curiosity to google it, or go to a library, or ask their children, or their children's science teacher, in 2013

Curiosity? A lot of people, probably more than half, likely way more than half, aren't curious at all. Same house. Same job. Same freeway. Same vacation spot. Same restaurant every time they eat out. Same car brand. Same. Same same. Heaven forbid they try something new. They are too afraid to.

I don't ridicule my older relatives for not questioning things they hear on radio or tv, we aren't always as discerning as we like to think we are, I'm sure you've been the fool a time or two, I know I have.

If the public can't even understand a basic chemical formula, , then it's probably hopeless to think they'll understand [a damn thing]

Or even possess the goddamned basic fucking curiosity to google it, or go to a library, or ask their children, or their children's science teacher, in 2013

Curiosity? A lot of people, probably more than half, likely way more than half, aren't curious at all. Same house. Same job. Same freeway. Same vacation spot. Same restaurant every time they eat out. Same car brand. Same. Same same. Heaven forbid they try something new. They are too afraid to.

Too true. This is most commonly seen when it comes to food choices. Many people are raised on one particular style of cuisine and absolutely refuse to try out foods from different cuisines no matter what you say or do. It's not even that they think they won't like it, the just don't give a shit enough to try something new. Think of all the fools missing out on Thai and Indian food! Ugh.

Except its not a false health scare. Everything about the joke is true. Just because people are stupid why should the DJs be held accountable. This is even worse considering we have things like search engines. Just look it up for God's sake, but I suspect anyone that would fall for this probably doesn't know about Google.

If the public can't even understand a basic chemical formula, , then it's probably hopeless to think they'll understand [a damn thing]

Or even possess the goddamned basic fucking curiosity to google it, or go to a library, or ask their children, or their children's science teacher, in 2013

Curiosity? A lot of people, probably more than half, likely way more than half, aren't curious at all. Same house. Same job. Same freeway. Same vacation spot. Same restaurant every time they eat out. Same car brand. Same. Same same. Heaven forbid they try something new. They are too afraid to.

Too true. This is most commonly seen when it comes to food choices. Many people are raised on one particular style of cuisine and absolutely refuse to try out foods from different cuisines no matter what you say or do. It's not even that they think they won't like it, the just don't give a shit enough to try something new. Think of all the fools missing out on Thai and Indian food! Ugh.

Not to mention those poor Thai and Indians that are missing out on the culinary excellence that is McDonald's!